Crash test: US-spec Sonata vs. Korean-spec Sonata

by Oct 13, 2015All News, Hyundai, Technical0 comments

sonata car to car crash test

Recently, I discovered something could be interesting for our readers. After talked with one of my korean friends about this Sonata crash test video, he told me something that I did not know.

[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]Aparently, in South Korea there are a part of Hyundai customers that are not happy about they cars, due to various failures and complaints like airbags do not work, water leaks, etc…

Maybe you remember that article from 2013 that said some Hyundai Executives resigned after quality problems (you can read that here). This scandal has continued to the present day, and Hyundai is still fighting to remove that idea from Korean customers.

So, Hyundai, in a way to demostrate that local cars are under the same standarts, decided to make a crash test comparison with a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Turbo US-spec in Venetian Red vs. a Lakeside Blue 2015 Hyundai Sonata Turbo in South Korean specification to try to show how both cars uses the same high strength steel, 3rd generation airbags (one of the complaints says Hyundai is using 2nd gen airbags for Korean cars instead 3rd gen for US-spec cars).

Hyundai is focusing to remove this thought from Korean customers after they lost a few points from its market share in benefit of imported cars (now they’re recovering with the launch of the 2016 Sonata range, the All-New Tucson and refreshed Santa Fe) and that’s why they bought two Sonata’s from each side of the Pacific, one in the U.S. (shipped to South Korea) and the other one from a local dealer to show how both cars are built under the same safety standards.

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Written by Jose Antonio Lopez

Passionated about Korean cars from Hyundai, Kia & Genesis. Photographer. I love being in nature, hiking. Tech lover.

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